❖ TUGBOAT RACE HISTORY, Olympia, Washington ❖ (Updated)

Yacht El Primero
18 August 2013
The first honorary committee boat.
Photo courtesy of Ron R. Burke
who loved this boat so much
he crafted a fine scale model. 

From a Harbor Days Official Program, 

Olympia News

by Chuck Fowler 

with Pat Haskett

31 August 1983

Now a major Puget Sound maritime festival, the Olympia Harbor Days vintage tug boat races began in 1975 when only six small workboats gathered for a single heat race north of Olympia's harbor on Budd Inlet.

The Olympia tug race has its historic roots in the informal towing boat competitive events which began before the turn of the century on Puget Sound. On major holidays, workboat skippers would pit their vessels against those of other captains to decide who had the fastest and most powerful tugs. Today that tradition lives on as members of the Retired Tug Association and other skippers come to the Capital city to race, gather their crews and families, and join in the fun of Harbor Days and Harbor Fair.

The initial race nine years ago was started by Captain Bert Giles, who had continued to signal the beginning of the competition with a blast of the whistle from his historic mini-steamboat Crest. Finishing first in that original race was Gordon Willies's small tug Sunset which was one of the workboats once owned by Delta V. Smyth, a pioneer Olympia tugboat operator. Wayne Smyth, who followed his father as head of Delson Lumber Co, donated a trophy in his father's name. The award, which was presented to the Sunset at the initial race, remains the first place honor for the Harbor Days Inland Class event.

Word of the first race began spreading throughout the Puget Sound area, and in 1976, 16 tugboats came to Olympia to compete. Both the 1976 and 1977 races were won by the 100-ft tug Odin (ex-Prosper,) then owned by Al Wolover of Seattle. The second race included several tug skippers who have returned for the Harbor Days events ever since: Mark Freeman of Seattle, who owns the Sovereign, Standfast, and Barf; Jon Paterson of Gig Harbor, who now owns the Winamac; Dan Grinstead of Seattle, owner of the Lorna Foss, and Franz Schlottman of Olympia, who owns the host Harbor Days tug Sandman.

In 1978, Odin and the Simmons Towboat Company's Beaver shared first place honors and the Delta V. Smyth perpetual trophy. However, Wolover of the Odin claimed permanent ownership of the award and a new Smyth trophy was created for subsequent annual presentations.

In 1979 Olympia tugboat race winner was Les Cooper's Chickamauga, the first diesel-powered tug built in the US, followed by a 1980 win by Stan Longaker's Palomar.

For the past three years, the small and fast Reliance, owned and piloted by Phil Shively of Bainbridge Island, has churned away with the first place inland class honors.  Among the larger tugs, Crowley Maritime Corp 's Retreiver bested the Arthur Foss in the 1981 Unlimited Class race. The Mini Class race, for tugs under 20-ft long, was won by Willy Block's tug Trio of Olympia.

In the 1982 race, in addition to the Reliance, the winner of the Mini Class event was Eric Freeman in the tug Barf. The Unlimited Class race was cancelled because of the potential danger to spectator boats caused by the huge bow waves created by the larger tugs.

Favorite
Captain Phil Martin
Photo courtesy of John Dustrude,
Friday Harbor, WA.

❖ Then in 1986, to the Labor Day races at Olympia came a contingent from the San Juan  Islands.
      Phil Martin on the Favorite won first place in the small tug boat class.
      Martin's Favorite was as well known in Friday Harbor as is Captain Martin. It is fitting that Favorite should win first place after being tied to a dock in red tape for two years prior to this race as a result of a law suit.
      Martin and Favorite were familiar faces at Memorial Day and Labor Day tug boat races. "Everbody was glad to see the Favorite back on the block." said friend and crew member, Kim Slocomb.
      According to Slocomb, Martin took back possession of Favorite just three days before the races in Olympia.
      He was noticeably enthusiastic about what he referred to as the midnight speed trials Thursday evening, and the good performance of the boat on its way to Olympia and at the races on Sunday.
      Favorite, a 36-foot tug built in 1937 for Tacoma Tug and Barge was a noticeable part of the Friday Harbor scene and often photographed for years.
      Slocomb said prior to a lawsuit over the tug, Favorite was overhauled from stem to stern to the tune of $200,000. "I was the one who built the machinery on the boat," he said.
      Slocomb, who droved down to Olympia to meet Favorite and was on board for the races and events, said the scene at the tug boat races at Percival Landing in downtown Olympia was a festival of street bands, food concessions, and racing events. One of the traditional events is to have all the tug boats run against a Foss tug the morning of the races.
      Slocomb said they all raced against Henry Foss and he thought the race seemed to be going well until he realized the Foss tug was running in reverse.
      "The Henry Foss does 13 knots sideways or backwards. It's the most phenomenal display of horse power and engineering I ever saw in my life," Slocomb said.

On the Water
Ilene Anderson

Friday Harbor Journal, 3 September 1986.

❖ OLD SHIPS ARE LIKE RARE WINE

4 July 1948 

YACHT EL PRIMERO
Built in 1893 at Union Ironworks,
San Francisco, CA.
The image is inscribed with the name
of the yacht owner,
S. A. Perkins, Tacoma, WA.
From the archives of the Saltwater People Log©

'Old ships are like rare wine –– they improve with age if kept in repair.' That was the observation of Commodore S. A. Perkins, Tacoma capitalist, newspaper publisher, and philanthropist, as he strolled the decks of his sturdy steel yacht, EL PRIMERO, moored in Lake Union.
      'But you must keep them up –– make replacements and improvements from time to time,' Perkins added as he showed visitors the comfortable after deck with its attractive furniture, the cabins, galley, pilothouse and crew quarters.
      'Do you know, the EL PRIMERO is a better yacht than when she was constructed at the Union Iron Works in San Francisco. She was rebuilt three times, once by the Lake Washington Shipyards in 1926. She has four steel collision bulkheads and is double-riveted and double-plated below the waterline.
      The EL PRIMERO is so sturdy she could plow through the heaviest ice floes. She is built like a battleship, pocket-size and can take seas of any height. And she is the best seaboat I ever traveled in. No yacht afloat has more deck space. She has cruised to Honolulu and to every part of Alaska.'
      The EL PRIMERO has a cold-storage plant sufficient for the needs of a cruise from Puget Sound to Alaska and return; a machine with a capacity for 30 pounds of ice an hour, fule capacity for a cruise of 5,000 miles and three heating plants.
      While underway, the steam boiler furnishes heat. There is an independent hot-water plant for time spent in port and as an electrical heating system for the staterooms. Other equipment includes a powerboat, an unsinkable lifeboat, and a life-buoy.
      'Probably more presidents have been entertained aboard the EL PRIMERO than any yacht afloat.' Perkins continued. 'They included Taft, Roosevelt, Harding, and Hoover. And during the Times Cup races on Lake Washington some years ago, the EL PRIMERO carried more Navy admirals than any vessel in existence. She was the flagship at all the Times' Cup races.'

EL PRIMERO
The flagship for the Times Cup races,
Lake Washington, Seattle.
Click image to enlarge.
Original photo from the archives
of the Saltwater People Log©

      Recently, the 137-ft yacht and her triple-expansion compound steam engine were given a complete overhaul at the plant of the Lake Union Drydock Co and after the work was completed, Perkins received a letter from Frank Oliver, the yard's superintendent. It said:
'Hoping all waters on the globe shall prove good cruising for you and yours, and all others aboard who love the sea. Bon voyage to the EL PRIMERO and my good friend, Sam Perkins.'
      Oliver said he found the EL PRIMERO in excellent condition and 'far superior to many vessels of the same age have made ready for sea. In fact, your vessel seems to improve with age.'
      The 17-knot EL PRIMERO formerly was owned by the late Charles Thorne*, Tacoma banker. 
      The EL PRIMERO can carry 125 persons on deck. She has sleeping accommodations for 30 persons and carries a crew of eight men who always address the yacht's owner as commodore. Crew members have their own eating and sleeping quarters.
      Perkins has master's licenses for ships of any tonnage, steam or diesel, on any ocean and also is a licensed pilot.
      Born in Boston, Perkins has large business interests, but the EL PRIMERO is his pride and joy. 'She is in fine condition and we will be shoving off soon on a cruise.' Perkins said. 'Perhaps to British Columbia or Alaska."
Above text from the Seattle Daily Times. 4 July 1948 p.15 
Courtesy of Ronald R. Burke, maritime historian, who submitted this clipping to the Saltwater People Log from his high school scrapbook, 24 July 2019.

EL PRIMERO
Photo by Ronald R. Burke, Seattle.
2013.

*1911: H.W. McCurdy's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest lists Chester Thorne, Tacoma banker, selling the El Primero to S. A. Perkins. The legend is that Thorne lost the yacht to Perkins in a card game.
1919: Listed on the timeline on the home page of the Saltwater People Log there is a short clipping of El Primero getting up steam for a race with Aquilo. Click here
1926: El Primero was extensivley rebuilt at Houghton, WA., for S. A. Perkins.
1954: Sidney A. (Sam) Perkins, 90, died.
The ship lives on at this writing. Update coming soon.